3-D adds new dimension to jigsaw puzzles

For more than 200 years jigsaw puzzles have remained pretty much the same. While they have grown larger in size and more intricate and complex, they have always been designed with two dimensions in mind, until now.

Puzzleball, by Australian company Blue Opal, is the world’s first 3-D plastic spherical jigsaw puzzle, adding a new dimension to the two dimensional world of jigsaw puzzles.

In its completed form it measures 23 cm in diameter and is comprised of 540 interlocking plastic pieces, which hold its spherical shape without any internal support or glue.

The plastic pieces have no sharp edges and appear to be flat. Only when the puzzle starts to take shape does the curvature of the sphere become apparent. Unlike rectangular 2-D jigsaw puzzles with straight edges or corners, the best place to start is not obvious, a fact that lovers of jigsaws and puzzles will relish.

Initial designs include Globe of the World, Leopards at Dusk, Ancient Egypt and Birds of the Rain Forest, with more designs in production.

When you have successfully finished it, Blue Opal have come up with several ways to proudly display the finished puzzle, as it can be placed on a display stand that comes included, a magnetic display hanger or a magnetic suspension stand. A smaller and easier 240-piece 15 cm Puzzleball will be released in later in the year.

And for those who wish to avoid tearing their hair out in frustration, each piece comes individually numbered so that it can be easily assembled by placing each piece in its corresponding place in the sphere.

After Editing or Managing over 50 print publications primarily in the role of a Magazine Doctor, Mike embraced the internet full-time in 1995 and became a "start-up all-rounder" – quite a few start-ups later, he founded Gizmag in 2002. Now he can write again. All articles by Mike Hanlon